The Romeo and Juliet Thing
by Funkiechick
Summary: (Pg-13 drug ref. and lovin) FreddyKatie Update! The lights were kind of dim, but her face was still easy to see.
1. Living In Moments

The Romeo and Juliet Thing  
  
By Funkiechick  
  
(My first School of Rock fic. FreddyKatie. 'Cause they rock. They're both in about Grade eleven, at this point. Some Romeo and Juliet influeces, but it's not AU, and it's not lame. At least I don't think it is.)  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Romeo and Juliet, School of Rock, or any of it's characters. I also don't own any of the song lyrics that I use. So I 'Over The Hills and Far Away? Yeah, BELONGS TO LED ZEPPELIN. K, thanks.  
  
Part 1: Living in Moments  
  
Mellow is the man  
  
Who knows what he's been missing  
  
Many many men  
  
Can't see the open road.  
  
Many is a word  
  
That only leaves you guessing  
  
Guessing 'bout a thing  
  
You really ought to know, ooh!  
  
-Over The Hills and Far Away (Led Zeppelin)  
  
--------------------  
  
Though not exactly the Clark Gable type, Freddy did look dashing in his suit and trousers. Albeit for the big, angry frown on his face, he looked very nice indeed. He was a handsome chap, just seventeen with a height just under six feet, and his parents were none too glad but to dress him up and show him off at their famous dinner parties. After all, it may have well been quite past the 1800's, but did parents ever grow tired of flaunting their pretty children?  
  
The Jones family, as you may have guessed, were having yet *another* of their famous dinner parties, and indeed, Freddy looked quite charming. His mother was rushing about, greeting her guests and flashing her bleached pearly whites, while Mr. Jones was talking about something rich and manly by the liquor counter. At one point, Freddy knew, his mother would dash to his side, tell him something about some woman bringing her somewhat intelligent but VERY pretty daughter for supper, and would Freddy like to come and show her around the house please?  
  
His mother had yet to do any dashing tonight, but Freddy had his guard on. Just in case. He yawned, loudly, because that was what Freddy did, and he checked his watch. Granted, his mother was angry with him, so maybe she would avoid him entirely this evening. Her attempts at setting him up with one of those little rich prisses had lately, all been for a reason far different than getting Freddy a girlfriend. It was getting Freddy out of his phase. Well, what she called a phase was simply Freddy being Freddy, even if that was riding a little on the wild side. Mrs. Jones had hoped the drumming wouldn't continue after the first night of having them, seven years prior. However, Freddy became addicted, and then soon, the rock star persona set in.  
  
Not the arrogant, aristocratic one. The drinking every second weekend and swearing like a sailor one. Now, Freddy did care about his mother, even if it was begrudgingly, and he was a pretty good sport for attending these dinner parties all dressed up the way he did. But lately his mother had been really pushing the 'you're in trouble we need to straighten you up' lecture, and the next thing she knew, Freddy came home drunk three nights in a row, and the maid found pot in his top cupboard.  
  
Freddy was in the doghouse, to cut short.  
  
He yawned again, and leaned against the wall. The elaborate, decorative, beautiful wall. His mother was always so proud of their walls. His father couldn't really care less, which reminded Freddy that at least Mr. Jones wasn't too angry with him. His father didn't get angry often. He didn't get *anything* often. He just drank his champagne and hung around the liquor counter at dinner parties, talking manly with his friends. And even then, they were talking manlier than he, because Mr. Jones didn't talk very much at all.  
  
Freddy was really having a craving. He needed to get out and toke up, bad, but he was in serious trouble and it wasn't like he was a drug addict. He just smoked whenever he was pissed off, which luckily wasn't too often. Then again, maybe Freddy should have considered other methods of relieving stress. Too late now.  
  
"Helloooo Frederick!" Mrs. Millicent Waters called out to him as she and her husband walked into the Living Room with the rest of the guests.   
  
"Hey Ms. Waters," Freddy said, slurring his words a little. He was tired, and grumpy. Where was the band when you needed them?  
  
The band was doing real well. In fact, they were doing MORE than real well. They were rocking out, hard, and the gigs were piling up. Freddy wondered if this was what he was going to do once he graduated. But then that made him think of Dewey, which wasn't good. Dewey was still a part of the band, of course, but there had been one moment where Dewey spoke of maybe, being too old for them. Holding them back, he said. Bringing them down. Summer and Zach had quickly insisted that this wasn't the case. Even though they all knew it probably was, they didn't care. Dewey was part of the band, he was the founder of the band, and it felt almost as if they couldn't rock hard without Dewey.  
  
Freddy drummed his fingers lightly on the wall. Compulsive drummer syndrome, as it was.  
  
"You never stop, do you?"  
  
Freddy's head jerked up, and then he grinned. "Hey, Katie! What are you doing here?...niiiiceeee dress, foxy lady." Katie rolled her eyes, as Freddy looked her up and down in her fancy, rich lady party dress, which was knee-length, and Katie had lovely legs. She stood next to him, and he looked at her while she looked straight ahead. "And uh..." Freddy shrugged. "I never stop what?"  
  
"Drumming," she said, and then glanced down at his hand. "Even with your fingers."  
  
"It's a habit," Freddy answered. "ALL drummers do it."  
  
"Must suck to be just like all the others, Frederick," Katie said flawlessly. She was always so good with burns.  
  
"Must suck to stand out for the ugly fat chick you are, Katherine."  
  
She punched his arm, and he grinned. He absolutely loved bothering Katie. He'd always loved bothering Katie. Be it pulling her hair in the second grade, to arguing about drummers in the fifth. She was relaxing. And a way better way to relieve his stress was talking with Katie, as opposed to smoking up.  
  
She DID look lovely, and Freddy looked her up and down again, but this time it was different because she didn't see him doing it, and he could be serious. Katie always looked lovely, always kind of stunning. With her thin, wispy dark brown hair that curled outward ever so slightly. Her big brown eyes, and those full lips. She didn't know she was pretty, either. Or rather, didn't care. Which only made her hotter to Freddy.  
  
"Stop staring at me."  
  
"Sorry," Freddy said. "Can I make out with you?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Okay." He looked straight ahead, just like her, but as always, didn't see what she saw. "So you didn't answer my question."  
  
She shifted her position against the wall. "What question?"  
  
"Why are you here?"  
  
"You parents invited mine, so..." she shrugged. "The invitation was extended to me. Mom and dad went to the Country Club the same day YOUR mom and dad did, and I think they bonded or something because we're invited to all of your get togethers now."  
  
Freddy beamed, and leaned toward her instead of against the wall. "That's awesome! Now I'll have someone to hang out with at these fucking things. Mom's always trying to stick me with some chick."  
  
"My mom too."  
  
Freddy grinned. "Lesbo."  
  
"Some GUY is what I meant."  
  
"Leeesssbo."  
  
"Oh shut up, tool." She punched his arm again. "My mom and dad were psyched. Your parents are the Prom King and Queen of the Country Club. It makes me sick."  
  
"You think it doesn't make ME sick?" Freddy shot back at her, and he stood up, away from her and the wall. "LOOK at this place! I am a drummer, a rock drummer, and above all, a true believer in anarchy and punk rock. Do you really think that THIS," he swept his arm up in a gesture of grandeur presentation. "Is anywhere CLOSE to any of those things?"  
  
Katie smirked, and she was so sexy when she did that. "You're ranting."  
  
"I KNOW, okay?"  
  
She looked away from him. "It's funny. The band is a group of rockers, but we're kinda stuck with the non-rock formula."  
  
"Dave Mustaine didn't have richie parents," Freddy grumbled, coming back to rest against the wall. Katie had to smirk again. Freddy and his peculiar switch in taste. His rock/punk drumming, his devotion to Punk Rock, and yet his deep servitude to metal rockers, like Megadeth's singer and guitarist. "Neither did Sid Vicious."  
  
"Now you're just spouting names at me to look cool," Katie stretched, spreading her arms out wide, and Freddy took that moment to inspect her chest while she was unawares. He quickly averted his gaze when she met his again. "Anyway, you're not a real musician if you try to be one that's not in terms of the music. Posers suck, loser."  
  
"Okay okay," Freddy said, rolling his eyes. "You've won the battle, brat, but the war will be mine. Brace yourself, here comes my old maid."  
  
Katie had to laugh, because Mrs. Jones was a funny woman when she was determined. She was walking towards them with a facial expression of iron will, and as soon as she saw that they saw her, she put on a smile. When she reached them, Katie was standing up straight, but still kind of leaning against the wall. That was what Katie did. Freddy however, just slouched more.  
  
"Hello you two," his mother said, obviously choosing to ignore her ferocious argument with her son that she'd had just an hour before this dinner party had commenced. "You look like you're having fun together!"  
  
Freddy saw Katie hide a laugh. "Yes, sure," was what she said.  
  
"Well, Frederick." Mrs. Jones looked at her son, and her face kind of dropped. "Oh DO stand up straight, dear. After all, you have a beautiful young lady here with you. You should be a gentleman."  
  
"It's just Katie," Freddy joked, but he stood up straight anyway. Katie refrained from punching him.  
  
But she DID say, "Freddy's NOT a gentleman, Mrs. Jones, you and I both know that."  
  
Mrs. Jones was not one for jokes. "Well, anyway, why don't you two go off into the backyard grounds and have some fun. Katherine, I LOVE that dress, did you buy it with your mother?"  
  
"Uh..."  
  
"She has SUCH marvelous taste," Mrs. Jones laughed in her fake, rich way. "Now, Frederick, you take Katherine's arm and go out and have fun. Don't worry," she winked. "I'll make sure none of the adults bother you. I was young once!"  
  
With that, she all but flounced off back into the living room, probably quite proud of herself.  
  
Freddy turned to Katie. Katie turned to Freddy. They both snorted and started to laugh, as Freddy offered his arm. "Shall we go fuck in the backyard grounds?"  
  
"I don't think that's what your mom thinks of as 'being young once'."  
  
"Fuck her."  
  
"Well, no one DID."  
  
Freddy snorted and let out a laugh as Katie DID take his arm, and he DID lead her out to the backyard grounds. They maneuvered their way through adults chattering away, and Freddy saw the mother of some brat his mother had set him up with once, giving Katie the evil eye.  
  
They reached the back doors, which were open, and made their way outside. It was really warm, even though it was fall. The chill of autumn had yet to sink in for the season. Katie had taken her arm back at this point, and walked towards the lawn. She kicked off her shoes and plopped down to the grass.  
  
Freddy smiled kind of fondly as he came to sit next to her.  
  
They let the silence take toll over conversation for a while, and though Freddy was sure Katie was thinking about something deep and profound (she was a bass player after all), all he could think about was her.  
  
Freddy didn't know what he and Katie were. Friends, yes. They'd been friends a long time. And Freddy DID think she was beautiful, but Katie WAS beautiful. Everyone knew that. Freddy figured it was pretty normal to get turned on by Katie. He'd never made a move on her, because there were times when she really WAS just a friend, and times when...well, she was this. Some beautiful, profound girl sitting on the grass without her shoes, which was the kind of a girl you could write a song about.  
  
Freddy decided he might, even though he wasn't much of a songwriter.  
  
But how DID he feel about Katie?  
  
By now, he was sure Katie knew he was looking at her, but she let him. She was too busy staring straight ahead, as always. Not at the sky, not at the ground. Just OUT, seeing what no one else ever saw. She let him stare, trying to figure out what he felt.   
  
And he concluded they were friends. Just friends. She was beautiful, and funny, and sexy, and so deeply *cool*, but they were friends.  
  
Right?  
  
It was all right if every once and awhile, there could be a kiss between friends, right?  
  
Of course right. It didn't mean anything. It would be an 'in the moment' type of a thing.  
  
"Am I so interesting?" Katie finally asked, raising her eyebrows, still not looking at him. Freddy wasn't fazed. He moved a little closer to her, and she didn't move away.  
  
"Yeah," he said. "You are...you're pretty hot, you know."  
  
"Thanks," she said blankly.  
  
Freddy sighed. "No, I mean like...more than hot. You're beautiful." She didn't say anything. "Not just because you look the way you do, but you know...you're not like other girls. You just do whatever and be you and that's really...I dunno, cool. That you're not fake."  
  
Katie smiled. Really smiled. Not a smirk, but not a full out toothy one. Just a nice, sweet smile. Katie wasn't sweet very often, but her smile was. She looked at him. "Thank you."  
  
"I'm being one hundred percent honest," Freddy swore, because he was. She nodded, smiling more.  
  
"Yeah, I know," she said.  
  
A silence passed between them, and now that she was looking at him, the silence was really just them looking at each other. Freddy loved her face. It was so...clean and real. She didn't wear make up, didn't try to be refreshingly natural. She just was.  
  
He leaned forward first, and he saw her lick her lips, and then close her eyes. Which was as much of a sign that he was ever going to wait for. He leaned in a little more, and kissed her, softly, on the lips.   
  
It felt amazing, and kind of...normal. Like he'd done it before, even though he hadn't. Freddy brought his hand to rest on her knee, in a gesture that was partially erotic but mainly supportive. As if to let her know he was a friend. Or something.  
  
Katie opened her mouth, just a little, so Freddy deepened the kiss, letting his tongue push by her lips a little, and soon they were just kissing passionately, as two people who...well, really connected did. She even touched him a little, with her hands slightly on his shoulders. That didn't seem like Katie, but then again, neither of them seemed like themselves at the moment.  
  
He groaned a little, and started to lean on top of her, until there was a loud slamming sound, which caused the two teenagers to scoot away from the other fast as lightning. Freddy shot his head up to the door to see what it was.  
  
Their Chef, Aaron, a tall man in his late 40's, had made his way out to the barbeque, and judging from the grin on his face, he'd seen them. "Lovely night, is it not Mr. Frederick?'  
  
"Yeah, it's nice," Freddy said, his voice breaking. He swore, and turned red, looking away. Katie snorted, and stood up. "What are you doing?"  
  
"Seeing what's cooking," she said simply, as if they'd been doing nothing at all. She walked towards Aaron, fixing her dress a little, but otherwise, totally confidently. "Hi," she said.  
  
"Hello Miss."  
  
"I'm Katie."  
  
"I am Aaron."  
  
"What's on the grill?"  
  
"Salmon."  
  
"Cool."  
  
Freddy let out a snort, and turned away from the both of them, suddenly coming to his senses and wondering what the hell he'd just done. Almost made out with Katie is what the hell he'd just done. KISSED her. And she'd kissed back. He snuck a glance at her and saw Aaron had given her a little piece of salmon on a napkin and she was watching him grill while she ate it with her fingers.  
  
He looked away again. Wait, he'd thought about this. It meant nothing, it was just two friends who...well, were in the moment. And he bet she knew that too, and he'd check, just to make sure. Okay.   
  
After all, it was Katie. And as cool as she was, as funny, and hot, and...well, talented and everything, it was still Katie, and he was Freddy, and they were friends.   
  
Friends.  
  
Right?  
  
"Hey, Spazzy McGee!" Katie called out, and Freddy kind of wished Dewey didn't think up nicknames. Ever. "Come have some, it's really good!"  
  
"Of COURSE it's good," Aaron mumbled under his breath.  
  
"Yeah, okay," Freddy said, and he hurried towards the grill, but he didn't stand close to her. It didn't matter.  
  
She didn't stand close to him either.  
  
--------------------  
  
End of Part 1  
  
(PART ONE IS DONE and two will be around wheeenn...I get around to it? I hope? Okay, thanks, R&R) 


	2. Maybe, Baby, We'll See

The Romeo and Juliet Thing  
  
By Funkiechick  
  
(Wow, got myself a niiiice response. You guys are great reviewers, being all nice to me. I'm fwattered *blush*. Now, I've been planning away at the fic and I've decided some of it's major angst, some isn't, but either way, I don't think anyone will be able to guess what's gonna happen. Which is good. Enjoy.)  
  
Disclaimer: DON'T OWN ANYTHING. Blah blah...  
  
Part 2: Maybe, Baby, We'll See  
  
You try to tell her what to do  
  
and all she does is stare at you  
  
her stare is louder than your voice  
  
because truth doesn't make a noise  
  
-Truth Doesn't Make A Noise (The White Stripes)  
  
--------------------  
  
Zach had always been somewhat recluse, introverted, and very much not the type of person one would expect the zany, obnoxious Freddy Jones to truly be companionable with.  
  
And before the band, that's the way it had been. Freddy knew Zach as the pretentious kid who played classical guitar and didn't speak with anyone, or look you in the eye when you asked him what time it was (Zach was famous for having a watch set to school time, which was a god sent gift to the bored fifth grader staring intently and hopefully at the ten minutes fast clock.)  
  
Zach wasn't *really* pretentious, no. He never had been. However, Freddy wasn't known for formidable first impressions. No, Freddy assumed Zach thought himself better than Freddy, back in kindergarten to first grade, to second and so on and so forth. All the way to fifth grade. Until Dewey had come alone and things had taken their course.  
  
Since then, shy, sweet Zach had turned into...well, a much taller, deep voiced shy, sweet Zach. Granted, shy, sweet Zach wasn't always as sweet as he appeared, but that came with a teenaged males territory.  
  
Somewhere between the lines of summer after grade five and winter of grade six, Freddy and Zach had bonded (bonding being shooting spitballs at Summer for a good week and a half before she tracked down who it was) and became quite good friends. Such good friends that Freddy found it quite acceptable to borrow Zach's brand new 1987 mustang convertible without asking during the tenth grade, and somehow managing to crash it into a tree.  
  
Even a MONTHS worth of hurling spit balls at Summer would have concluded Freddy's friendship maybe wasn't worth it at THAT point, Zach decided, but he forgave him anyway.  
  
Also, because Freddy's bass drum had, somehow, someway, wound up impaled by a branch up Zach's notoriously tall trees in his back yard, and Zach seemed much more forgiving and good natured after that.  
  
Despite these obstacles, Freddy and Zach were friends. Good friends. And Zach got another car anyway; he ended up lucky because his father was buying a new one and handed his Red Toyota (better than nothing, after all) over to Zach. After the two had thoroughly disguised the Toyota in stickers, they called it 'Betty', and soon all was resolved after Freddy stole a bass drum from Dewey.  
  
It was this good friendship that amplified to the usually perceptive Zach to know exactly why Freddy was being so quiet that Monday morning as they drove to school. Freddy wasn't allowed to drive for three months due to three speeding tickets. Two of which were under the influence, but no one but Frankie and Zach knew THAT.  
  
Zach stared slightly at Freddy as he turned a corner, and Freddy stared wordlessly out the window. They were playing Sabbath quietly on the CD player, which maybe made Freddy feel a bit deeper than he was, so Zach turned it down, and Freddy turned to glare at him.  
  
"Hey, I was-"  
  
"What happened with Katie?"  
  
Freddy made an odd sort of squeak noise, and folded his arms angrily over his chest before going back to staring out the window. "NOTHING."  
  
Zach snorted. "Something happened."  
  
"Nothing. Happened."  
  
"What, did you make a move? Did she slap you? She slapped you, didn't she? Slapped you and I missed it-"  
  
"Would you SHUT UP!?"  
  
"Okay, okay..." Zach grinned, and pretended not to care, as he casually stopped at a red light and glanced out the window to watch two freshmen girls walk down the sidewalk to school. Usually, if he was silent and completely calm, he could get anything out of Freddy. Zach, to this day, was the only one who knew about Freddy tongue-kissing Summer at her fifteenth birthday party. Well, besides Freddy and Summer that is. Even though Freddy didn't really remember that incident too well; he'd been drunk off his gourd.  
  
Come to think of it, when Zach had been trying to get THAT out of Freddy, he'd acted the same way...  
  
Which meant...  
  
"Did you kiss Katie?"  
  
"NO. YES. Shekissedmeback!!"  
  
Ah. Yes. Zach certainly knew how to handle Freddy Jones. Zach pulled into the drive-through at McDonalds. Egg McMuffins always put Freddy in a talking mood.   
  
"You're paying," Freddy said immediately.  
  
"Am broke," Zach answered. Freddy swore and dug his wallet out of his school bag angrily. "Egg McMuffin and a coke."  
  
"K," Zach rolled down the window and turned to the speaker, while Freddy glared at his AC/DC wallet. The one that Katie just happened to have gotten him for Christmas in the seventh grade.   
  
After Zach finished ordering, he said to Freddy over his shoulder "8.73," and drove to the next window. Freddy opened his wallet, pulling out a five dollar bill and a huge handful of loose change that he was sure added up to at least five dollars alone.  
  
He handed Zach the money, silently, and then looked back down at his wallet. The change pocket was opposite of his pictures, which were sticking slightly out of their own pocket underneath his credit cards. He pulled out the first picture, which was of Katie. Because God hated him and refused to let him get Katie off his mind. Especially since this was one of the only pictures around of Katie smiling. She was holding her bass, and posing dramatically, obviously, in one of her better moods.  
  
"Yeah, Katie on the mind," Zach joked after paying the pimply, red-headed teenager, and then driving forward once more to the next window to pick up their food.  
  
"Shut up," Freddy snapped, stuffing the picture back in his wallet, and then furiously trying to stick the wallet in the deepest, darkest bottoms of his school bag. "I'm paying for your fucking breakfast, so mind your own business."  
  
"You owe me twenty bucks, you loser."  
  
"Not anymore!"  
  
"No, now you owe me...ten. Because I'm keeping the change." Zach grinned as he stuck the coins in his pocket. He turned to the window again, grabbed the bag of blessed McDonalds, and said "thanks," to the server before driving out the of the drive in, and back down the freeway. He shoved the bag at Freddy.   
  
Freddy, grumpy as ever, took his Egg McMuffin out of the bag and unwrapped it, took a bite, and chewed mechanically. Something about eating was supposed to be comforting, but right now, Freddy was too confused to really think about Egg McMuffins.  
  
"So..." Zach said, steering with one hand and chewing into his burger with the other. "What? You guys hung out on the weekend or something?"  
  
Freddy, knowing full well he'd given himself away quite blatantly, shrugged. "She and her parents came to mom's dinner party. We hung out in the backyard." Zach nodded, turning a corner, and then leaving a silence for Freddy to continue. Which he didn't.  
  
"And?" Zach prompted.  
  
"And I dunno," Freddy said meanly. He was still scowling. "She looked hot, we were having a good time, so I did. That's what you do when you're having a cool time with a hot chick, man, you kiss her."  
  
Zach snorted. "You sound like such a dick right now and you know it." They paused at a stoplight, and Zach took another bite of his burger. "If that was your reason for kissing Katie, then I really hope she didn't kiss you back."  
  
"Fuck you," Freddy mumbled, shoving the rest of breakfast into his mouth. A master of culinary behavior, was he. "Fine, so I didn't kiss her 'cause of that-"  
  
"Your mouth is full, idiot, CHEW!"  
  
"Blaaaaaauuggghhh-"Freddy stuck his tongue out, which had contents of chewed up egg and muffin inhabiting the center. "Auuugggh, bleeeeeee-"  
  
"Hey look, it's Katie," Zach said monotonly, looking over Freddy's shoulder. Freddy turned red, and quickly put his tongue back in his mouth and swallowed, afterward taking a huge gulp of his coke before glancing over his shoulder eagerly.  
  
No Katie, but instead Billy, who was literally skipping to school.  
  
"Oh my bad," Zach shrugged, a malicious grin spread over his face like butter. "But hey, you know, I hear Billy thinks you're pretty cute-"  
  
"Would you shut up??"  
  
"And when you go to Billy in an act of passion and true love...who else to be there for Katie but," Zach held a hand to his heart. "Yours truly."  
  
Freddy's face darkened. "That isn't funny."  
  
"Because you like her."  
  
"No I don't!!" Freddy settled back in his seat, hoisting his feet up to rest on the top of the dashboard. "Fine, hit on Katie, see what I care."  
  
"I was joking."  
  
"I said, SEE-WHAT-I-CARE."  
  
"Would you stop shouting?" Zach remained infinitely calm, completely cool, which was a trait in Zach that Freddy hated and also envied. Envied a LOT. "You sound like you're ten again."  
  
"Can we just drop the Katie thing?" Freddy started to fiddle with the laces on his boots. "I don't want to talk about it."  
  
"Do what you want, doesn't bother me."  
  
"Stop being an ice man!"  
  
"I'm just being ME." He glanced at Freddy out of the corner of his eye as Freddy reached for Zach's fries in the McDonald's bag. "Hey, those are for Summer."  
  
"...what?"  
  
"They're for Summer."  
  
"Why? One, she doesn't eat junk food, and two, why are you getting Summer fries?"  
  
"BECAUSE she doesn't eat junk food."  
  
"You're corrupting Summer?"  
  
"I am."  
  
Now it was Freddy who adopted the evil grin. "SEXUAL corru-"  
  
"Not everyone is a perverted predator like you, Jones." Zach took a sip of his root beer. "Just a nice gesture. You know, how FRIENDS do that?"  
  
"It's Summer."  
  
"I'm seeing your point, but it doesn't cancel mine out. She's had a bad weekend." Zach pulled into the student parking lot. "Thought I'd cheer her up. You should too."  
  
"Why?" Freddy took one last sip of his soda pop and cracked his right knuckle against his knee. "What happened?"  
  
"Ask her yourself."  
  
"She's YOUR girlfriend."  
  
"No." Zach parked the car, and turned to look at Freddy. "KATIE'S my girlfriend. I'm off to ask her now."  
  
"See-if-I-CARE!"  
  
"Ohhhh, I see." Zach smiled, total smart-ass seeping through every pore. "I see REAL well."  
  
He got out of the car then, and Freddy was half tempted to just bolt and not go to school at all. He hadn't really talked to Katie since that night, and he wasn't about to. They had band practice after school, but that wasn't so bad because they'd be playing, not communicating.  
  
"Wait UP," Freddy snapped, rushing to follow Zach into the school. Zach locked the car with his automatic locker on his keychain, flipping his hand over his shoulder. "Smooth, loser face."  
  
"Die, asswipe."  
  
Freddy was pissed now. Thinking of Katie should have made him happy, probably. He figured. Not that he really knew...or anything. But it was all so stupid and complicated that he just wanted to go the day without her at all.  
  
He knew that was too much to ask for though. For some reason, he really needed to see her. Just for the sake of seeing her.  
  
"Locker, open please," Freddy said as they stopped by his locker, which was the first one you saw when you stepped through the back door that led into the school from the parking lot. Freddy never knew his locker combo. Zach always did.  
  
Zach shrugged his shoulders as he re-shouldered his backpack, and flipped the combination on the lock, not really speaking. Once Zach was in public places, like school or, even concerts, he wasn't very talkative at all. He put up his wall and stopped looking people in the eye when they were speaking with him. He was a regular, silent Bob sometimes.  
  
Freddy nodded his thanks once the locker popped open, and smacked his friend on the back as he shoved his jacket, which had been hung over his shoulder, into the locker.  
  
"You should talk to her," Zach said, monotone. "Knowing you, you'll probably act like a dick and try to push her away because she makes you feel different than you usually feel."  
  
Then the bell rang, and Zach walked off to get to Bio. Freddy glared after him, mainly because when it came to analyzing why the fuck Freddy did things, Zach was always right on the button.  
  
Freddy hated that.  
  
--------------------  
  
It was at the point Freddy walked into his English Lit class - late, with a muffin in his mouth because he'd wanted a muffin from the cafeteria more than he wanted to be on time - that Freddy remembered Katie was IN his English Lit class, and why didn't the think of skipping since he ALWAYS skipped English Lit?  
  
So as soon as he walked into the classroom, and he saw her sitting there, silently scribbling away in her notebook, he knew he was fucked because he was going to sit with her. Or he was supposed to. They always sat together in English Lit because no one else they really knew was in that class.  
  
Plus it was fun, usually, but already he could feel tension. Why the fuck did he have to kiss her?  
  
She didn't look up at him though, just kept scribbling.  
  
"Mr. Jones," snapped Mrs. Weienenburger. "So KIND of you to join us." Freddy grinned, and waved, the muffin still in his mouth. "Take your seat." Freddy nodded, and reluctantly took his chair next to Katie. "You and I are going to have to talk about the number of tarties you've been contributing to society."  
  
"Can't wait," Freddy supplied, swallowing his muffin. With a slight sigh escaping her lips, Freddy knew Katie still had the kiss on her mind. Or maybe she was just tired, or maybe...  
  
He wouldn't know unless he asked her.  
  
Which would be logical, so he wouldn't do it. Instead, he muttered "Yo, Katie," and ducked his head.  
  
Katie glanced up at him, barely giving him eye contact, and said "Way to tell Zach."  
  
Freddy, like he always did, got defensive. "Well, he got it out of me!! I didn't do anything, did you tell anyone?? I bet you told someone!"  
  
Katie rolled her eyes and went back to doodling in the notebook. "Why would I tell anyone?"  
  
"Well, why would *I*?"  
  
"Don't ask me, YOU did it."  
  
"How do YOU know?"  
  
"Zach passed me on the way to Bio," Katie started, turning the page of her notebook, and continued "And he asked me how was my weekend and when I answered fine, he said that you were going to be a moron and to watch my back."  
  
"That little SHIT."  
  
She blinked as she looked back at him, only this time, her eyes meeting his full on, which intimidated Freddy, so he look down at his knees. "Listen, I wasn't about to make a big deal out of that. It was just a stupid little kiss, and it was just a stupid little moment. So don't go acting like a woman when it wasn't anything to react to," Katie said.  
  
With that, Katie raised her eyebrows slightly, pouted a little with that moist, supple mouth, and turned her full attention on drawing a picture of Mrs. Weinenburger. With devil horns and an N'Sync shirt. Katie was known for her artistic talents.  
  
Freddy was slightly speechless, and he had to admit that she had a huge point. HE was making the huge deal of it, not her, and it wasn't like they'd gotten proposed or anything. It WAS just a kiss...  
  
So why did it feel like he was skirting such a big thing?  
  
Freddy ran his hands through his hair, and pulled his chair closer to Katie. She didn't say anything, but he felt her tense up when their knees touched. He leaned in, to whisper in her ear. "So...how many more 'moments' are we gonna have?"  
  
Katie didn't say anything, for a good five minutes, but Freddy did not move. He refused, because he wasn't sure what the hell exactly he was doing, but it felt nice. More than nice, to be close to Katie, to be whispering in her ear and maybe waiting for her to whisper back.  
  
Finally, she mumbled "we'll see."  
  
Freddy smirked, and though he didn't see it, Katie smirked too, down at her Satanic Mrs. Weinenburger.  
  
End of part 2  
  
(this part was either pretty damned good or really damned bad. I moved the small TV in my dad's office into my room. He doesn't know yet; surprise time.) 


	3. Trying To Begin Her

The Romeo and Juliet Thing  
  
Part 3: Trying To Begin Her  
  
By Funkiechick  
  
(Man, I am so hungry, but I feel sooooo sick. AUGH. Next part, have fun. OH, and thank you to all you lovely reviewers who kick a thousand asses times ten. You all rock. See ya, read and enjoy! Don't forget to review.)  
  
Your heart is in your home they say  
  
Your home's where you belong  
  
But someone stole my heart today  
  
So listen to my song  
  
-Knocking Down Our Home (Badfinger)  
  
---------------------  
  
It was the bass solo that started it, and by 4:15, Freddy was completely horny. It wasn't even his fault. Katie was just so goddamned hot that he couldn't concentrate, and as soon as she hit that solo, the one that Zach had written for her, Freddy knew he had to do SOMETHING.   
  
Katie, as always, completed her solo masterfully and then just switched back into silent, bass mode as the guitarists came back in and Lawrence played chords. Freddy, quite out of it at this point, missed a beat and ended up crashing the high hat mid chorus. Normally, that wouldn't be too bad of a problem and he could fake that he'd done it on purpose. But considering this was kind of a ballad, the high hat crash stuck out like a sore thumb.  
  
Dewey stopped playing and turned to face him. "There's a little something called MAGIC going on up here, Spazzy, and you may not know what that is, but you would if you just sat back and didn't WRECK THE CHORUS!!"  
  
Freddy hunched his shoulders and glowered. "Maybe I was IMPROVING the song, Dewey."  
  
"I wrote it. It's perfect."  
  
"Maybe we should take a ten minute break?" Summer said competently. "Freddy's mind is OBVIOUSLY somewhere else. We should all just have a breather."  
  
Dewey grumbled something under his breath as he walked to the kitchen, the words 'chili' and 'burger' were recognized in his ranting spiel. Summer turned to Freddy and placed her hands on her hips. "I HOPE you're going to get your act together after ten minutes, Freddy."  
  
"Blow me."  
  
"AUGH!" Summer turned on her heel, her long dark hair flipping over her shoulder, and also stormed into the kitchen. The words 'coffee' and 'lots of coffee' were recognized in HER spiel.  
  
There was a silence as Freddy exchanged looks with Lawrence, Zach, and then Katie. He gave each of them a wide, cheesy grin. "I'm the best at everything," he said.  
  
"Best at being an idiot," Lawrence answered promptly, and went to his sheet music, inspecting four bars into the opening verse. "Is this supposed to go off key?"  
  
"Ask Dewey," Katie said. Lawrence nodded his head, grabbed the sheet music, and made his way into the kitchen, where Dewey and Summer were chili-dogging and coffee-ing.  
  
Zach and Katie snorted, and Freddy glared at where Lawrence had left, because Lawrence somehow managed to always get the last word without trying. Freddy did a drum roll, always the good sport, and looked over at Zach. "So, still buying Summer friiiiieeesss?"  
  
"You're an aaassssss."  
  
"I just gave her a pack of tootsie roll pops and said I was there for her and stuff," Katie muttered. "I'm not really good at the whole girl power number."  
  
Freddy blinked. "Wait, you all did something for her? What HAPPENED on that weekend?"  
  
"Haven't you even asked yet...?" Katie trailed off, but Zach cut in.  
  
"Something with her parents, she wouldn't go into full detail," Zach shrugged. "Ask her yourself, man."  
  
"Yeah, I will." Freddy stretched, and scratched his back with his drumsticks, like he always did. He looked at Katie, who seemed to have been looking at him while he stretched, but her gaze snapped back to her fingers thumbing at her bass once he looked back at her.  
  
How much more lame could they get?  
  
It had been two whole weeks. No more moments had come. They'd barely even talked. At least, not half as much as they usually did. Freddy had been hoping to catch her alone, but he hadn't really had the guts to call her, and it wasn't as if she was making any effort on her part. So he didn't bother.  
  
But it really sucked. Now that he'd already kissed her once, it felt so wrong not to be kissing her at all times. And it also felt wrong to feel this strongly about something so small.  
  
He was able to shake these thoughts off, usually. But he was so horny right now that all he could think of was Katie. And more Katie.  
  
"I need to piss," Zach said, brushing by Katie then and giving Freddy a raised eyebrow, jerking his thumb back at Katie. She didn't notice.  
  
Freddy shook his head franticly at Zach, who rolled his eyes and just went into the bathroom. Freddy sighed, and glanced at Katie, who was still tinkering with her bass. "He leaving us alone on purpose?" she asked.  
  
"Duh."  
  
"Oh."  
  
Freddy bit his lip, and he noticed she did too. He glanced over his shoulder, having some sort of weird idea that everyone would pop out from hiding and yell at them or something. Katie was almost taboo. He finally got up from behind his drum-set, and took a seat next to where she was standing, still strumming away quietly at the bass.  
  
She did grace him with a look though, and when she did, she kind of smirked.  
  
"You're getting pretty good," Freddy informed, honest, watching her play.  
  
"I always play."  
  
"Me too."  
  
"I know that."  
  
She stopped playing and looked down at him, Freddy never having taken his eyes off of her in the first place. He took her wrist, pulled her down towards him, setting her on his lap. She didn't resist.  
  
"Anyone can see, you know," she said.  
  
He shrugged, smiled, raised an eyebrow. And it was her who leaned down and kissed him. Kissed him first, on the mouth. That was all Freddy needed, and he kissed her back, opening his mouth, she opening hers, and then one of his arms was around her waist. She was resting one hand on his shoulder, her bass still on. It should have been awkward, but it was impossible for Freddy and Katie to be awkward at all.  
  
"I'm done pissing!" Zach's voice called out, and Katie was off of Freddy in a second. Right back to standing there, playing the bass, and kind of doing her blank stare, at the wall, while playing at the same time.  
  
Zach entered the room a few seconds later, and then so did Summer, coming from the kitchen with a muffin and a cup of coffee. "Thanks for that ANNOUNCEMENT Zach, it was LOVELY."  
  
"You're in a good mood," Zach noted sarcastically.  
  
"I'm tired."  
  
"You're stressed."  
  
"Well of COURSE, I-"  
  
"Take a break." Zach went back to his guitar, and re-tuned. His guitar had an annoying tendency to go in and out of tune in a matter of seconds.  
  
Summer snorted. "Easy for the MUSICIAN to say." Before Zach could reply, Summer was on Freddy in a second. "YOU. Have you dealt with your-"  
  
"I'm FINE."  
  
"Good. Dewey and Lawrence are looking in on a keyboarding solo. They'll be out in a minute. Here." Summer handed some of the muffin to Katie. "You need to eat more."  
  
Katie flushed. "Summer, I'm naturally this twiggy."  
  
"Always room for carbs!" Summer cooed brightly. "Eat."  
  
Katie shrugged, and ate the portion of muffin anyhow. She WAS naturally twiggy after all. Summer nodded her head and looked to Zach. "You need some?"  
  
"I'm good."  
  
"What about ME?" Freddy asked, mock pouting. Summer made a face at him. "Where's MY muffin?"  
  
"Get bent," Summer snapped, still sore from his 'blow me' comment none too earlier.   
  
Dewey and Lawrence returned to the room then, Dewey pouring out an incoherent string of words, probably about the new keyboarding solo, and he commanded them all to start from the top.  
  
Freddy crashed the high hat at the wrong time again, only this time it was because he and Katie were looking at each other.  
  
--------------------  
  
After practice, Zach offered both Katie and Freddy a ride. Summer and Lawrence had already left, together, because they were next-door neighbors and always car-pooled. Dewey had long since waved everyone goodbye with a cheesy smile (chili burgers always brightened his mood) before collapsing onto his couch, an eruption of snores following soon after.  
  
Katie sat shot gun, while Freddy was oddly silent in the back seat, wondering about things, thinking about Katie, and the fact that that kiss could have left her so...unaffected. Where as HE felt like it was the biggest thing in his life right now. Most likely because it was, if he thought about it.  
  
Which he didn't want to.  
  
"The bass solo is good," Zach was saying to Katie in the front seats. "You're feeling it. I can tell."  
  
"Your music always has feeling," was Katie's reply. "Thanks for writing it."  
  
Zach shrugged his shoulders, but Freddy couldn't help but notice that his ears went a little pink. Freddy raised a quizzical eyebrow. Zach noticed it from the rearview mirror, and said "you're quiet."  
  
"It's nice," Katie said.  
  
"Shut up," Freddy snapped, looking out the window. Fine, so she wanted to flirt with Zach, he didn't care. Zach and Katie were probably thinking about what a punk-ass jerk he was, and rolling their eyes at him. Freddy was always sure people were rolling their eyes at him. He hated it.  
  
When they came close to Freddy's place, Freddy and Zach made eye contact again from the rear view mirror, and Zach's eyebrows shot up a little, like they had when he'd 'taken a piss' earlier that day. Freddy shrugged at him, and then Katie gave them both strange stares.  
  
"What's with the eye sex?" she asked.  
  
"You wish me and Zach did it," Freddy answered, and then with a sudden bout of courage, asked "Come stay for dinner."  
  
Katie looked at him from the mirror then, making eyes with him, smirked a little, and said "alright."  
  
"I'll talk to you both tomorrow then," Zach told them, unlocking the doors as Freddy and Katie let themselves out. "Have fun...try not to make too many babies."  
  
He was down the road long before either had a legitimate comeback.  
  
There was an awkward silence before either really said anything, but then Katie turned to Freddy with a bit of a smile on her face. "So what's for dinner?"  
  
"Sex."  
  
"You're nauseating." She started to walk up the huge, marble steps towards his front door, but Freddy caught up with her, and he almost took her hand in his before he caught himself. Neither of them made any comment about it. It was simply too tender of a gesture. For them.  
  
As Freddy was fishing for his key in his pocket, Katie let her fingers graze over the huge doorknocker, and let out a whistle. "I never get over how luxurious your house is. Your mom went hardcore rich."  
  
"Yeaaahh," Freddy said off-handedly, distracted, before finding his keys in the very depths of his pocket. "You know my mom."  
  
"Not really," Katie replied, and they stepped inside. Freddy slammed the door shut with his foot, locked it, and then they kind of avoided eye contact as both took off their shoes and placed them in the closet, with their jackets.  
  
When they finally did let their eyes meet, it caught both off guard, and they were kind of staring at each other in the front hallway for a little while. Years had allowed Freddy to grow a little taller than Katie.  
  
She kind of liked that. She didn't always like being so tall because it meant she stood out. With Freddy, she was she, and that was nice.  
  
Katie stepped forward, dipped her head a little to whisper in his ear. "Let's just go down to the basement, okay?"  
  
Freddy felt his body become totally aware of Katie, and he let his hand travel to the small of her back, as they indeed, walked to the steps, down them. Alone.  
  
In his own mind, Freddy freely admitted to the fact that this was definitely not the first time he had crept down the steps to the basement, a girl in tow, horny. But it was the first time with Katie. For some reason, that felt very...profound. Katie was a very profound person. And no matter what happened, Freddy decided that he would never, ever, forget any moment he ever spent with her.  
  
"Your playing was a little off today," Katie mumbled when they reached the bottom of the stairs, sounding husky and sexy, which Freddy was sure she wasn't doing on purpose. She wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing herself closer to him. "You were distracted."  
  
Freddy was staring at her lips. "So what if I was?"  
  
"Well..." she stared at his lips too. "Don't you think you better get over this? It's only me, Freddy."  
  
Freddy looked in her eyes then, and then snorted a little, kind of snickering, kind of smiling, mostly something he couldn't comprehend. He didn't answer her; he didn't know what to say. How was he supposed to tell Katie that 'only her' was...  
  
He didn't want to think. So he dipped his head and kissed her, sweetly but passionately, on the mouth. He snaked his arms around her, and she kissed him back as they fell towards the couch, clumsily, hands fumbling.  
  
"You weren't," Freddy mumbled out, as Katie worked at the bottom of his shirt. She was on top of him and he liked it.  
  
"I wasn't what?" she breathed impatiently.  
  
"Distracted. Today..." he trailed off, taking her hands in his. "Why the hell not?"  
  
Katie smirked, leaned close to him. "I don't get distracted, Jones."  
  
Freddy grinned back at her, leaned his head up to kiss her, but...  
  
"FREDERICK!"  
  
Not for the first time that day, Katie leapt off of Freddy, to her own end of the couch, which was small anyway. So their knees were still touching.  
  
"FREEDDDD-"  
  
"I'm down HERE, mom!" Freddy growled out, sounding so irritated that Katie slapped his thigh, partially because of his childish tone and partially because she needed to touch him.  
  
He gave her a look, shrugged his shoulders, and took her hand in his. "Freddy-" she started.  
  
"Just let me hold your hand, Jesus."  
  
"...fine."  
  
And let him hold her hand she did. She also held it back. When Freddy's mother came down the stairs, they didn't stop holding hands, and Freddy hoped that maybe it was a sort of start. Maybe they would date, go to movies, and kiss in the hallways at school.  
  
Somehow though, he kind of doubted it.  
  
When he looked at his mother, he saw a deep frown on her face. Obviously, she hadn't had that swell of a night at her dinner party or socialite supper or whatever the fuck she'd been parading about at, wearing her classiest suit, her hair swept up at the back of her head.   
  
"Freddy-" she saw Katie and her face dropped, which took both Freddy and Katie by surprise. It was probably the unfriendliest expression both of them had ever seen. Mrs. Jones eyes snapped to their linked hands, which caused Katie to sharply pull hers away.  
  
Freddy flushed, and crossed his arms. "Hey, mom, *what*?"  
  
Mrs. Jones sharply sucked in some air through her nose before speaking. "Katherine, if you don't MIND, you'll be needing a ride home of some sort."  
  
Katie blinked, and didn't say anything for a moment. Registering that SHE was Katherine. "Uh..." Katie said quickly, clearing her throat. "I...I don't have a car...sorry."  
  
"Mr. Jones will drive you. Up the stairs with you now." Then Mrs. Jones did not look at Katie at all. In fact, she disregarded her completely as she turned to her son. "What a coincidence. We need to have a chat, Frederick."  
  
"I'm walking Katie to the door," Freddy said, standing up.  
  
"We-need-to-have-a-chat-Frederick."  
  
A long pause followed, and finally, Katie awkwardly just mumbled that she would see Freddy at school, and she scuttled up the stairs. All the way, she was shooting Mrs. Jones offended, but confused looks.  
  
Freddy was blushing, he knew he was, and he hated it. He always blushed when he was in trouble, when his mother was scolding him like he was a kid, a puny little infant. And she'd done it in front of Katie.   
  
"Why'd you force Katie out like that?" Freddy demanded, despite the blush. "That was freaking RUDE, mom." Freddy sugarcoated what he wanted to say. He always did with his mother. Sugarcoat. It made him feel like less of a punk, which he knew was stupid, and kind of poser-ish. But he didn't care. Punks were NOT scared of what their mothers' lectures were about. Punks just didn't care.  
  
"DON'T speak to me like that!" Mrs. Jones snapped. "I hope this is the first time you've had that GIRL over here when we were out of the house!!"  
  
Now Freddy really WAS confused. It sounded as if his mother had a problem with Katie, which was ludicrous. Just two weeks earlier, his mother had promoted, encouraged, and even INITIATED the idea of Katie and Freddy being alone together. Now...well, it was a far cry.  
  
"What does THAT mean?" Freddy asked.  
  
"Oh don't get me started," Mrs. Jones growled. "That girls' BEAST of a mother humiliated your father and I in front of the ENTIRE country club tonight!"  
  
Freddy blinked. "What..."  
  
"They were gloating over their new boat, their lovely new boat, while simply writing our own yacht off as a tinkering tug boat. I do believe the words 'vastly superior' were used in their description!!"  
  
"Mom, are you telling me you kicked Katie out of the house because you argued about our boat with her parents?"  
  
His mother was on a roll, and nothing Freddy said was about to stop her. Freddy was familiar with this situation. "Soon, I just blew my stack and told her to stop, just STOP, because she was embarrassing us. Then her husband started on a spiel of me losing my temper, which I certainly had NOT done. I went to the liberty of explaining to him that my family has a long line of passionate, intelligent men and women, whose determination was often confused with a temper. He laughed, LAUGHED. And then I simply told him, I said 'MR. ALBERT BROWN, a temper is much better than simply being BOUGHT IN to the social circle'."  
  
This was getting to be too much for Freddy. He made a face, shook his head. "Mom I don't want to-"  
  
"Well, that Muffy Brown just went nuts on me THEN, defending her husband until DOOMSDAY that little-"  
  
"MOM! I don't want to HEAR THIS!!"  
  
Mrs. Jones winced a little at the volume in her son's cry, before looking angry once more. "Well you might have SAID so," she snapped. "Hear it or not, do you understand me??"  
  
Freddy was blushing again, this time out of outright frustration. Why his mother frustrated him so much, he would never know, and it almost made him sad sometimes because even as a child he remembered she had frustrated him more than anything else a mother should have done. "What are you ASKING me to do? Understand WHAT?"  
  
"The Browns and your father and I..." Mrs. Jones composed herself, fixing her hair, always keeping up appearances. Even with just her son and her in the room. "Are no longer going to be associated. I want nothing to do with that family."  
  
"Mom, that's so fucking-"  
  
"WATCH that mouth, Frederick Jones, you just WATCH it!" she pointed her finger in his face, her eyes boring into his. "You have no idea, the things that family said to us tonight, so until you WANT to sit back and hear what I have to say, you've no right to judge. I don't want you spending too much time with that Katherine Brown...the apple never falls far from the tree!"  
  
"Well that IS bullshit!" Freddy argued. "Katie's nothing LIKE her parents!!"  
  
"THAT remains to be seen," his mother was back to calm, feigned sophistication. "Until I find otherwise in her mannerisms, I want you to be asking me permission before you and this Katherine go out. In fact," she took a refined breath. "I'd prefer it if you remained friends."  
  
"But-"  
  
"There are other fish in the sea, Frederick."  
  
"I'm not-"  
  
But Mrs. Jones simply patted his shoulder, albeit hard and not at all the way a mother's touch should be. It hurt, a little, but it still hurt. And at that moment Freddy realized that Mrs. Jones meant every word, that she suddenly hated the Browns family and that meant Katie too.  
  
It was how these circles worked.  
  
Freddy had a hunch that this may have something to do with Summer's bad weekends, may have something to do with the problems she'd been having with her parents. The Browns, most likely, were now taboo.  
  
Which meant being near Katie was like having a disease to his mother.  
  
He snorted and turned away from his mother, who after awhile left the basement, up the stairs. Freddy stared hard at the wall, and thought, calmed himself down. He may be jumping to conclusions.   
  
The last time a family had been cut out of social circles had been when Freddy was young, four or so, and when it had happened, there had been not a peep out of the family for a good three years. They had been deleted from the parties, from the social suppers, from the picnics. They simply didn't exist.  
  
Until one day in Winter, A B-movie producer had stopped in on the family's Christmas Gala, and word got around the grapevine. Soon, they were back in, at the top, and the next family to be booted out had yet to come.  
  
It didn't happen often was why. There were fights, and often malice and deceit even, in a strange, adult, off-handed way. But Freddy didn't think a family would be disowned from the circle again. Not after how strange it had been when he was young.  
  
He couldn't panic. It was late. He was feeling sick and angry with his mother and imposingly, oddly drunkenly beguiled with Katie. He had to sleep on it, and in the morning, he would ask his father to explain everything.  
  
After all, he thought, irony wasn't THAT cruel.  
  
End of part 3  
  
(I'm not sure if this was good either...some parts were, other parts didn't come out like I wanted. Meh. Gotta go. Reviiewww.) 


	4. What Time Is It?

The Romeo and Juliet Thing  
  
Part 4: What Time Is It?  
  
By Funkiechick  
  
'Here I stand, head in hands  
  
Turn my face to the wall  
  
If she's gone I can't go on  
  
Feeling two foot small  
  
Everywhere people stare  
  
Each and every day  
  
I can see them laugh at me  
  
And I hear them say  
  
Hey, You've got to hide your love away  
  
Hey, You've got to hide your love away'  
  
-Hide Your Love Away (The Beatles)  
  
(wow, part 4 already. Exams are coming around so I'll be updating less. Yeah. Oh yes, and I have been informed that I am spelling Zach wrong. I thought about this and decided to keep it the same; after all, you all understand right? Of course right.)  
  
--------------------  
  
Zach stared, wide eyed and disbelieving, at Freddy. His eyebrow was slightly raised, and his mouth was even hanging slightly open. He looked like someone who had just been told his mother was really a man in disguise.  
  
Granted, the news Freddy had just revealed to him, had been almost as strange.  
  
"Are you telling me your parents are BANNING someone?" Zach said finally, then took a sip of his root beer. They were at A&W. Freddy tended to drown his sorrows in fries. With a lot of ketchup. Zach wrinkled his nose as Freddy chewed on his meal. QUITE a lot of ketchup.  
  
"That's not the point, fucker!" Freddy snapped, but it came off kind of sounding like a whine. "The POINT is that my mom is a bitch and she went off on this tirade about seeing Katie."  
  
Zach shrugged. "It'll blow over."  
  
"It WONT!"  
  
"It will. My parents have told me stay away from you loads of times. And I'm sitting with you in an A&W, aren't I?"  
  
Freddy mocked offense. "What's wrong with ME?"  
  
"You're a rude prick."  
  
"Oh, right." Freddy nodded, but then the easy-going look on his face, albeit only being there a moment immediately vanished. He was back to moping. Well, it was more angst than mope. It came across as being a mature, brooding, tortured artist expression. But when someone knew Freddy as well as say, Zach did, they soon learned that it was not artistic. It was just pathetic. "Dude, what am I gonna do?"  
  
"You're punk rock, idiot," Zach said mockingly. "You always brag about being such a scenster. Just see her anyway."  
  
"I'm GOING to, obviously," Freddy muttered darkly. "But what about Katie? Her parents are out of the circle now-"  
  
"You don't know that for SURE-"  
  
"And so life's gonna be shit for her anyway. Her name's mud in mom and dad's clique. Remember what happened the last time? The family changed their kids schools it was so bad. What if Katie starts getting all of this flack and shit? What then?"  
  
"I don't know what you're worrying about," Zach continued, shaking his head, finishing up his root beer. "Serious, dude, Katie can take care of herself. You should know that. Unless you're just in this for...I dunno."  
  
Freddy suddenly looked very serious. "No what, just in it for what?"  
  
"You know."  
  
"I really DON'T loser!"  
  
Zach shrugged, stared at his discarded burger, and then met his friends eyes. "In it for the challenge."  
  
Freddy blinked, and then looked pissed. And defensive. His eyes went dark, he sat up straight, and suddenly he looked as if he wanted to deck Zach. "WHAT?"  
  
"You know as well as me that the jocks are always going for Katie because they think she's such an Ice Queen-"  
  
"She's NOT an-"  
  
"I KNOW THAT," Zach said clearly, as if talking to an idiot. "But they go for the challenge, and for all you know, you are too. She WAS just your friend before. This whole 'Starcrossed lovers' thing might just make it-"  
  
"Fuck YOU!" Freddy snapped, slamming his hand on the table. "Why the hell should YOU care? Katie's my FRIEND. I don't fuck around with her, or Summer..."  
  
Zach let out a cough that sounded quite a lot like 'SUMMERSBIRTHDAYPARTY'. Freddy glared. "Oh come ON, Jones," Zach continued. "You have a history of being a bit of an ass."  
  
"I wouldn't do that to Katie, fucker, shut up!!" Freddy slammed his hand down on the table again. "She could kick my ass anyway! She'd KNOW if I was after her because of the challenge."  
  
This made Zach pause, and then he nodded slightly, shrugging. "Okay...fair enough." Then he grinned. "Maybe YOU'RE a challenge to HER."  
  
"I'm perfect," Freddy said, leaning erotically into his chair. "Everybody wants me." Zach snorted and finally picked up his forgotten, cold burger, ready to take a bite. Then Freddy considered him, suddenly suspicious. "Hey, why do you care, anyway?"  
  
"'Bout what?" Zach asked, mouth full of burger.  
  
"About Katie."  
  
Quicker than it should have been, Zach's response was "She's my FRIEND."  
  
Freddy raised his eyebrows, and Zach raised them right back. A very uncomfortable silence followed this exchange. In the silence, there seemed to be a sudden understanding between the two boys.   
  
It was at that moment that Freddy realized Zach might have felt the same way about Katie as FREDDY did. And he might have felt that way for a long time.  
  
Freddy shook the thought out of his head. Zach hadn't said anything. Hadn't made any comment. Hadn't given any indication to Freddy that he was maybe hurting their friendship because he liked Katie TOO.  
  
So Freddy decided, unless Zach really said anything, why SHOULD he back off?  
  
Zach seemed to get this too, as they looked at each other. He shrugged his shoulders, like he always, always did, and then shifted his gaze back to his burger. Chewing mechanically.  
  
Freddy cleared his throat. "Yeah. I got you."  
  
Zach didn't say anything. Neither did Freddy.  
  
--------------------  
  
It took a great deal of iron nerve to sit next to Katie in Study Hall that period. Especially since Freddy didn't have the class...  
  
She raised an eyebrow at him. "You have Chem."  
  
"I HAD Chem."  
  
"You're skipping Chem to hang out with a bored me in Study Hall." She said all of this as a statement.  
  
Freddy grinned, giving her charm. He liked giving her charm because her reactions were always so strange. Like now. She simply glanced at his eyes, as if looking to see why he was REALLY in this room with her, and then tilted her head and kind of smirked.   
  
"You want to talk about your mom. What she said."  
  
"Maybe."  
  
"My mom went on the rampage," Katie said calmly, leaning back in her seat. "She said that your mother influences your family. That she makes you do things you don't want to do."  
  
"Well, your mom should win a cookie."  
  
Katie kept going, unfazed, but she did pat his knee. "It's her way of saying that she doesn't hate you. Or your dad." Katie looked Freddy in the eye then. "Your dad is okay."  
  
"Yeah, he was pretty neutral about the whole thing," Freddy replied, leaning closer to her. Needing to feel her, somehow, because when she was close, he had to be closer. Katie understood this, so when he leaned, she leaned in too. The teacher, at this point, caught glimpse of Freddy and walked importantly toward the desk.  
  
Katie tensed then, a little, but Freddy kept close. So she did too. "Mr. Jones."  
  
"Leslie!"  
  
"It's Mrs. Kepler."  
  
Freddy turned on a very different kind of charm for Mrs. Kepler than he did for Katie. "I had a career appointment, Mrs. Kepler, so I'm excused from Chem."  
  
"Then why aren't you in the CAREER CENTER?"  
  
"I finished my appointment five minutes ago." Freddy was a brilliant liar. It was so obvious he was taking the piss, but he just spoke with such conviction that anyone would believe him. "This may come as a shock to you, Leslie-"  
  
"Mrs. Kepler."  
  
"-but the guidance counselor? She didn't seem to think I had too much of a future. Appointment was over pretty quickly."  
  
Mrs. Kepler let out a frustrated snort, and then snapped, "This is the ONLY time I permit you to stay in this classroom."  
  
"Yes MA'AM."  
  
Mrs. Kepler stalked back to her desk, and then Freddy turned to Katie. She smirked at him, and then was slightly taken aback when she saw that his expression changed. His face wasn't full of that smart-ass fa 


	5. Only Him

The Romeo and Juliet Thing  
  
Part 5: Only Him  
  
By Funkiechick  
  
'No there is no other one  
  
No there is no other one  
  
I can't have any other one  
  
though I would  
  
now I never could with one'  
  
-No Other One (Weezer)  
  
(wow it has again, been a good while. I'm happy with this part.)  
  
--------------------  
  
A gig was just what the doctor ordered, and it was a good one. Summer WAS an impeccable manager after all. It wasn't often they landed a stellar set outside of school, however, what with Dewey's age. And theirs.   
  
Still, Summer had managed minors' night at The Blue Boot. The whole band were in jubilant moods about the whole thing, and by 4:00 in the afternoon, on the dot, were running out of classes towards Dewey's infamously nasty, smelly, and rocking van.   
  
"SHOTGUN!!" Summer yelled, speeding past Zach. She was fast as a speeding bullet, Summer was. You wouldn't know it by looking at her, but she could pack some serious power. Freddy, always passionate about his urges for shotgun, swore, and sped on after Summer.  
  
He caught her arm and they started bickering on the curb, while Lawrence walked wordlessly past them and into the passenger front seat.  
  
Katie smirked. "Beat to the punch you two," she said smoothly.  
  
"What..." Freddy looked confused and then saw Lawrence smiling politely from the front seat, Dewey visible behind him, eating a Big Mac. "Fucker! No way!"  
  
"You jerk!" Summer kicked Freddy's shins. "That WOULD have been me!"  
  
"OW!"  
  
Katie just took hold of the collar of Freddy's jacket and pulled him into the back seat with her. Summer fumed and continued ranting on as she ordered Zach inside the van. He just kept quiet, always quiet.  
  
"Alright!" Dewey exclaimed from the front seat, mouth full of Big Mac. "Who's prepared to rock?"  
  
"I will be if I can have some fries!" Freddy answered helpfully, raising his hand.  
  
Dewey seemed to think about this for a moment, before shrugging his shoulders and sending the bag of McDonalds back to Freddy. Freddy hissed "Yessss" and opened the bag eagerly, automatically handing Katie the soft drink that followed.   
  
She nodded her head, and took a sip from the straw. Katie loved soda.  
  
"Okay, let's organize a set," Dewey said. "Last minute gigs, guys, are the tests of true musicians, to see if we can rock hard with or without preparation."  
  
"Please don't start lecturing please, Dewey, that's MY job," Summer said tartly, still sour over losing shotgun. She sat up very straight and gave Zach a glare when he rolled his eyes. "Alright, we all know what we play best, what we have polished and what we do not. Are you all feeling all right? Are we prepared for-"  
  
"SO," Freddy interrupted. "I say we do our Manic Depression cover. Zach, you rock your solo on that."  
  
Zach shrugged his shoulders, but looked pleased despite himself.  
  
Within a half hour, they had a set planned, even if it was only three songs long and consisting of a lot of Zach and Dewey riffs, four drum solos, two keyboard solos, and even a bass solo by Katie. In the end, they considered it a jam more than an actual concert. A very important, nerve-wracking jam.  
  
In the back of the van, while they drove out of town (The Blue Boot was just outside of Manhattan), Freddy was hunched over, watching Katie, who was picking slightly at the cuffs of her jean jacket sleeve. Since he wasn't speaking, the bus was considerably quieter than usual.  
  
Katie glanced up, feeling Freddy's eyes on her, and she granted him with a slight smile. She was in a very good mood, because of the gig and her solo, and Freddy smiled back.   
  
"Pre-show jitters," she said quietly.  
  
"I don't get them."  
  
"I know, it's annoying."  
  
Freddy took her hand, really gentle, staring down at her nails, which she bad bitten down terribly. "Nail biter."  
  
"Cock sucker."  
  
"Ooh, hostile."  
  
"More like funny." She glanced in his eyes. "People are in the van, you know." Even though they were talking to each other quietly, Katie wasn't a fan of public displays of affection. Especially since Zach was sitting right in front of them.  
  
Freddy shrugged his shoulders at her however, and left his hand on her upper thigh. She let him do this, but they didn't talk anymore. Talking only made them more affectionate with each other. Katie had an urge to hold Freddy whenever she heard the sound of his voice.  
  
"Freddy," Summer said suddenly, turning around in her seat. "We NEED to do something about your snare."  
  
"Tell me about it," Freddy said. "Tell my parents that, though, I can't afford it by myself."  
  
"We'll do SOMETHING about it, I just-" Summer faltered slightly, having caught sight of Freddy's hand resting suggestively, but still shyly, on Katie's thigh. "Freddy, stop molesting our bass player!!"  
  
"Piss off," Freddy growled.  
  
Never the less, Katie shifted herself over so Freddy's hand was no longer on her thigh. Summer was looking a little put out by Freddy's response, since she was after all, only joking around. And Summer so rarely joked around.  
  
So, in a huff, she turned around and decided to promptly ignore Freddy for the rest of the day. Freddy glowered at Katie, angry that she hadn't defended him, had merely stayed quiet.  
  
Katie kept her gaze out the window, and Zach pretended he hadn't heard a word.  
  
In the front seats, Lawrence and Dewey were singing along to Robert Plant. "You need COOOLIN', baby I'm not FOOOLIN'..."  
  
Truth be told it wasn't much of a comparison.  
  
-------------------  
  
The Blue Boot wasn't very Rock N' Roll per se, but the acoustics were awesome, and the food was good. There were about three other bands there, running through sets. When Dewey and the gang entered, they all got quite the once over.  
  
"You guys the replacement for Lyal and Hand?" a tall, terribly thin bass player asked from the stage.  
  
There was a beat of silence, before Dewey and Freddy both exclaimed "REPLACEMENT?" at Summer.  
  
Summer flushed. "Oh shut up and get your stuff from the van!"   
  
Freddy, furiously embarrassed, stormed out of the room back to the van, Dewey right by his side. "Dewey, man, we're REPLACING a band."  
  
"Don't let it break the drum Zen," Dewey answered swiftly. "Thousands of rock gods have been opening bands before."  
  
"But REPLACEMENT?"  
  
"Yes, that too."  
  
"You don't seem so sure."  
  
"Hm, Freddy Jones, SHUT UP."  
  
The comment brought back memories for Freddy and Dewey, and they took a moment to get a little nostalgic before they were joined by Summer, who insisted that Freddy would break his drums should he handle them with just he and Dewey alone.  
  
She ended up only carrying the very much in need of replacement snare, though.  
  
Back inside, Katie, who had had the sense to carry her bass in with her so she wouldn't have to deal with the mayhem out by the van that was sure to occur, was checking out the eatery, the stage. Just wandering with her instrument slung over her shoulder in it's case.  
  
She just wanted to play. She admitted to herself the process of setting up, checking equipment; she hated that. Katie tried to feign aloofness and solidarity by only carrying her bass and plugging it into an amp. Really, she was simply lazy when it came to rowdy work. Not snobby, only incredibly bad at it.  
  
All the same, her aloof, cool look worked. Being improbably beautiful didn't hurt either, so it came as no surprise that the very thin bass player who had been having a sound check on the stage none too earlier, approached Katie.  
  
"Bass?" he asked, pointing to the case on her back. She nodded. "What kind?"  
  
"MusicMan Silhouette."  
  
His eyes widened a little. Impressed. "A six string?"  
  
"A six string."  
  
He nodded, grinning a little, but he obviously wasn't the type who actually smiled very often. "You any good?"  
  
She liked his question. "Not horrible. How about you?"  
  
"Rickenbacker 4003."  
  
"Are you good, is what I meant, actually."  
  
He ran his hand through his hair. "Also not horrible."  
  
Freddy would have said 'are you kidding me? I fucking rock'. She wasn't sure if she wished she'd wanted this fellow bass player to respond like Freddy or the way he did; totally different.  
  
He extended his hand. "Tomas."  
  
She took his hand, shook it. "Katie."  
  
He smirked a little at her again, but Katie didn't smirk back. Didn't see a reason to. "Your band good?"  
  
Katie paused, before answering, "Yes."  
  
He nodded, finally let go of her hand. "Ours needs work. None of us work together. Me and the drummer are best friends and the keyboarder and the singer keep having sex when we're supposed to be practicing."  
  
Katie had to smile a little at that. "You could always do that on stage."  
  
"Tried. Didn't work." Then she laughed a little. "Nice, I get a smile. And a laugh. I compliment you on both, they're nice."  
  
Katie smiled again, a little softer, "thank you."  
  
It was at that moment, Freddy came storming in through the doors, the bass drum in his arms, and the air full of his colorful swears. "FUCK this is awkward!" he yelped.  
  
Katie rolled her eyes, and it was then that Freddy met hers and saw Tomas, who was gazing at Katie with a slightly dazed sort of expression.  
  
His face contorted into one of concern, before he continued on carrying the bass to the stage. Dewey followed with the toms, and Summer was last, daintily carrying the snare drum.  
  
"I should help," Katie said quietly. She looked at him. "I'll watch you play, I guess. To see if you're not horrible."  
  
He smiled then. "I'll watch you play because I want to watch you play."  
  
Katie turned then, her hair flipping over her shoulder. "That's a dumb reason to watch someone play an instrument," she said curtly.  
  
When she glanced back he raised his hands in surrender. Smirking.  
  
Katie, guiltily, thought of how Freddy and her would have carried out that entire conversation. Then she felt stupid for feeling guilty. She didn't owe anything to Freddy, and he didn't owe anything to her.  
  
Still, when he gave her that odd, contorted, confused look behind the drum he was carrying none two seconds later, Katie felt the guilt again. So she simply gave him a small, sincere smile, as if to tell him that any Tomas who she had everything in common with, simply wasn't a Freddy.  
  
So they didn't matter.  
  
He smiled back at her, sincere too.  
  
Katie felt a little afraid then. Like she'd just pledged some sort of oath. Like they'd made a forever promise or something. She was so young and it was so soon. Still, if the feeling of needing Freddy felt like it had been there forever when it had not...  
  
Why did she feel this so strongly?  
  
Though Katie would not act upon it, as usual, the smile she had given him felt like a sort of release. It felt good to show things at times.  
  
Felt good.  
  
End of part 5 


	6. A Little Confused, Man

The Romeo and Juliet Thing

Part 6: A Little Confused, Man

By Funkiechick

Are you loving it?

Can you ever get enough of it?

Is it everything?

A love that never stops,

Comin' to you?

Comin' to me?

Comin' to you?

Are you scared of it?

Do you wish that it would stop?

Does it bother you

when you hear your spirit talk?

Well I'm right with you,

Yes I'm right with you.

It's working on me,

It's working on you.

It's working on me.

Are You Passionate? (Neil Young)

Her hand was in his, and it sent ferocious heat to the very core of his body. The lights were kind of dim, but her face was still easy to see. Probably because he thought of it so often, he could see it in the dark.

They were pretty good, that band. The band with the guy like Katie. Still, Katie was with him, watching him, not this bass player that Freddy could tell was a lot better for her. He didn't dwell on that for too long though. They had played well; Katie was in a good mood.

As she pressed closer against him, Freddy knew she was in a horny mood too.

He leaned down, pushing against her, his mouth on her neck. Put his hand at the small of her back and tried to get closer. Closest just wasn't close enough.

"You played well," Katie mumbled.

"I know. God you smell good."

Katie smirked, leaned back so they were looking at each other. Didn't say anything, just waited expectantly, and then he kissed her. Like all of their kisses, it always felt as breathtaking as the first one, and it made Katie and Freddy weak at the knees.

It seemed the music and the smell in the air, the smell of irresponsible adolescence, let Katie continue kissing him despite being in public. Let him push her against the wall, press his pelvis into hers.

About four steps away was Zach, bearing drinks he'd been planning on sharing with both Katie and Freddy. Summer was just behind him. He caught sight of Katie against the wall, their tongues intermingled, and thought fast. Turned quickly, facing Summer.

"Screw them, Freddy has a big head from the gig," Zach said. "Let's go get a table or something."

Summer blinked, and unbeknownst to Zach, immediately got the wrong idea. She blushed, and nodded as they walked off through the crowd. Summer feeling giddy. Zach feeling worse.

Freddy and Katie didn't want the band to know, though. And he would help. They were his friends.

At that moment, Zach felt a tap on the shoulder and turned his head to see Rufus Tibbs and Michael Slater, friends from school. Kind of snobs, but a good time once you got them drunk. "Zach, man!" Michael said, the nicer of the two. Rufus just nodded his head. "You guys played good."

"Played WELL," Summer supplied.

Michael rolled his eyes and Rufus muttered something under his breath. Something very rude. Zach was about to call him on it, but Michael continued talking. "You seen Freddy since you played? We gotta talk to him."

"What about?" Zach asked.

"My father is letting me take some friends out on the yacht this weekend," Rufus said, eying Zach. The two had never quite seen eye to eye, now that Zach thought about it. "Trudy and Melissa want Freddy to come."

"And me, man! I want Freddy to come! Freddy's a good time," Michael said, grinning.

"You messed up your solo, by the way," Rufus said coolly to Zach. "Good thing Freddy saved the day with HIS."

Zach stared.

"Yeah, Freddy's over there," Zach said easily, pointing off where he had seen Freddy and Katie practically fucking against the wall.

Michael nodded his head, and Rufus and him walked off.

Summer looked at Zach with a confused expression. Zach shrugged. After all, Freddy had asked him not to tell the BAND. He hadn't said a word about anyone out of the band...

"Well, THEY'RE just stupid," Summer said loudly. "You played great. You always do."

"Thanks," Zach mumbled.

"No matter what anyone else says, Zach, I think you're...very, VERY talented." Summer said this with an odd voice, like she had no idea what to say.

Zach slowly turned his head to glance at her. Again, only wearily this time, Zach said, "Thanks."

"You know!" Summer burst out. "I uh...I think that you're playing has...has the most powerful...uhm," she snapped her fingers. "What do you call it...chords!"

Zach snorted. "Thanks, really. What's with you, are you feeling okay?" He put the palm of his hand on her forehead. "You're acting a bit like a maniac."

"I am NOT," Summer insisted, and then he saw her grow shy again. "I just...you know, I'm surprised you wanted to be with me alone, rather than with Katie and Freddy."

Distracted, and not listening, Zach said "Yeah, well..." while looking off in the direction Michael and Rufus had swaggered off. He wondered why he felt guilty, and then he wondered if Katie would be angry with him.

Zach was watching for Katie and Freddy, wondering what it was exactly he had just done. Summer was talking, rambling, and he felt a little guilty at not paying attention. But his mind was with Katie. Beguiled with Katie.

Now he felt really bad about sending Michael and Rufus off to interrupt them.

"'Scuse me, Summer," Zach touched her arm, and walked off.

Summer was left sitting there, feeling like a complete idiot.

"FREDDY? What the FUCK, man?"

A sentence like that is liable to wreck any moment, and so Freddy pulled away from Katie. Glanced up, and saw Rufus and Michael, two buds from camp, staring at him like he'd just shot a nun. Then again, knowing Rufus, shooting a nun wouldn't exactly be the worst thing he could do.

"Hey..." he said awkwardly. "What's up?"

Katie, annoyed, stared hard at them.

"Why are you with HER, dude?" Michael said snidely.

Freddy didn't respond for a moment, as if he hadn't heard Michael correctly. "What?"

"I mean, we all know she's a hot piece of ass-"

"Fuck you," Katie snapped, immediately.

"-but her parents like, fucking blew a gasket at the Martin's last night." Michael shoved his hands in his pockets. Rufus watched, silent, snobbish. Interested. "I mean, it's not YOUR fault," Michael said to Katie, then turned to look again at Freddy. "But you know, if this gets around..."

"You should shut the fuck up, Slater!" Freddy demanded. "Before you really piss me off!"

"Hey, just trying to warn you." Michael raised his hands in defense. "Nothing personal to you, sweetie," he said to Katie. "But you're kind of acid, for us, you know, reasonable people. Your parents are a little nuts."

Then he walked off.

Freddy, furious, turned to Rufus. "What exactly is that about, man? What the fuck!"

Rufus shrugged his shoulders. "Anyway, I was going to invite you to the yacht. This weekend. Interested?"

"Yeah, maybe, I'll get back to you." Freddy waved that off. "But fuck, what's his PROBLEM, I-"

"Then I'm off. Bye Freddy." And Rufus walked off, not once acknowledging Katie. There was an eerie silence after his departure, and Freddy wasn't quite sure what to say for a moment. He didn't have to. Katie spoke.

"Mom and dad showed up uninvited last night, to this party. Dad turned over the kitchen table and started shouting. They got kicked out." Freddy watched her, quietly. For once not cutting in. "They're getting kind of nuts. About this whole...'name is mud' thing." She crossed her arms over her chest, looked at him dead on. Daring him to be disgusted and pretentious, just like the rest of them. "So all your little friends wont be too cool with me. Neither will your parents. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if your parents wanted us completely out of this town's picture."

Freddy couldn't think of anything to say. He knew this was a really important conversation, knew that Katie was silently questioning him. He didn't know what the question was, couldn't hear it. All he knew was that with Katie, it didn't matter what was bad. What was shitty. With her, everything was perfect.

For once in his life, Freddy chose silence over noise. He took Katie in his arms, and held her, breathing on her neck, muttering "Fuck THAT, who cares?"

Katie smiled, not surprised.

The ride back into Manhattan was kind of quiet. Zach was brooding, Summer, suddenly shy, was sitting quietly next to him. Dewey was flat out exhausted, and chose this moment to snore against the steering wheel. Lawrence was somehow managing to shift gears and snap Dewey awake long enough to change lanes and break.

Freddy and Katie sat side by side, not looking at the other, not touching. Too tempted to go too far at the moment.

"You talk to Rufus and Michael?" Zach mumbled, not sounding very interested in his own question.

Freddy paused. "Yeah."

"I told them where you were." Zach's voice was a mixture of 'so what're you gonna DO about it' and 'I'm kind of sorry'.

"Thanks a bunch."

"It's not like you have anything to hide, is there?" Zach was suddenly sarcastic. Lack of sleep, and a serious case of unrequited infatuation were getting to him.

"Fuck off," Freddy growled, and leaned back against the side of the van.

"Don't know why it has to be such a big secret," Zach continued. "Like you think you're special."

"Stop it, Zach," Katie said without looking at him.

Zach stopped.

An awkward bout of quiet filled the air before Summer insisted "What is going on?"

No one answered her. The only eventful thing to happen for a total of ten minutes was the van honking, which was only because Dewey's nose had pressed into the horn while he was sleeping.

Freddy thought. Which was a novelty, really. He didn't do it very often. Yet thought he did, and most of his thoughts were centered on Katie, and why he had such an ominous premonition about them feeling the way they did about each other. Still. He needed her, at this point. Which was so strange to him. It wasn't like they had been what they had been for very long. Why was she suddenly so amazing? Why was everything so fast and still so right?

He glanced at her. She was biting her nails. The most un-Katie characteristic in the world, and she did it constantly. He smiled, fondly. Felt a strange kind of a softness forming in the pit of his stomach.

Unable to restrain them, the words "You're beautiful, Katie," suddenly flowed from his mouth, out in the open. Clear. Audible.

She shot her head to look at him. Zach and Summer watched. Lawrence cocked his head over his shoulder. Dewey snored.

Katie's eyes darted around the van, nervously. Finally, she mumbled "Take a picture, Jones," and went back to biting her nails. Shifted away from him.

Freddy bit his tongue, and looked at Zach and Summer. "WHAT?" he snapped.

Summer made a face at him and averted her gaze. Zach rolled his eyes. Then Freddy looked at Lawrence, who was still staring at him.

"Can I help you?" he asked rudely.

"Smooth move," Lawrence said casually, shaking his head, and turning back to look at the road. Freddy scowled, now in a horrible mood, and crossed his arms.

No more words were spoken during the ride.

Finally, the time came to slap Dewey awake (Summer and Lawrence's houses were coming close). The rambunctious rocker yawned, cracked his neck, and said "Man, I am in one GOOD mood!"

Dewey, for the life of him, couldn't get why Zach, Katie, Summer and Freddy all sent him ferocious looks a second later.

Freddy's mother was waiting up for him when he stepped into the house. "Hey, I called you, I had a gig," Freddy said immediately, in case she was angry about the hour in which he was home.

No. That wasn't it. "Those lowlifes have done it again. Ruined the Martin's party."

Freddy groaned. "Mom, I DON'T want to talk about them." Then he immediately went to the stairs, and started to climb up and away from his mother, which didn't work out too well.

"That girl," his mother said, following him up the stairs. "She was at your show tonight I assume? Isn't she in your little band?"

They walked through the lavish hallway, and for a second Freddy wondered how much money they spent on making their house look as beautiful as it did. He also wondered why it was necessary. "Yeah, so?" he countered, and glanced at the paintings on the wall that no one ever looked at.

"So...don't you think you could perhaps find another candidate to take her place?"

Freddy did a double take, blinked. Stared. "WHAT? NO we can't 'find another candidate!'" Freddy snorted, disgusted, and walked faster. She followed him. "She's really, really good. She's been our bass player since the fifth grade." Then they reached his room, and he put his hand on the doorknob and turned and looked at her, glared at her. She didn't budge.

"Really, Freddy," his mother laughed. "I'm not asking much. I'm sure you can find someone else."

"No," Freddy snapped, sternly. "We CAN'T." He opened his door and stormed inside. She came right in with him, but neither said a word for a minute or so. They just looked at each other.

There was a pause as mother and son stared each other down, neither willing to back out of the conflict. Neither willing to compromise. Freddy wanting Katie. His mother not seeing. Not understanding. Not loving her son properly.

"You may only see this girl when you're with your little band," his mother said, suddenly dark sounding. "Do you understand me?"

Freddy looked away.

"Do you UNDERSTAND me, Frederick Jones?"

Freddy looked up at his mother. "I understand you."

Then he waited, and she finally stepped out of his bedroom, and he closed the door. He couldn't even slam it, he didn't have the balls to slam anything right now, so he just closed it.

He fell into his bed, stared at his ceiling. Wished he had Katie with him tonight. Where was she now? In her room? In her bed?

He felt sick. And strange. And wanting.

Without understanding why, he grabbed for the baggie of dope in his top dresser, opening the window to make sure the smell didn't drift into the rest of the house.

Upon opening the window, he had a better idea.

So he stuck the pot back in the dresser, and climbed out the window.

He needed Katie.

Katie sat on her bed, wearing only shorts and gym shirt from school, feeling heated. Warm. Sweaty. Thinking about Freddy. Thinking about her home.

Neither of her parents was in the house. They'd left a note. Didn't tell her where they'd be off to. It probably had something to do with all of the chaos her parents had been causing to the other families. All the chaos they'd been going through trying so hard to fit in. All the chaos in general.

It made her furious. She sighed hard, glared at the ceiling, stared up and up and up, wondering why she couldn't just fucking fly out of the roof, and into the air. Where no one would follow her.

Maybe Freddy. The band. All she wanted was to be with the band, and with him.

She wrapped her arms around her stomach. Feeling that familiar twinge in her belly. That twinge -oddly pleasant- that was there whenever she thought of Freddy.

Home alone, lonely, her parents thinking their status more important than her. She hadn't really talked to them in awhile, now. Not since all of this had started.

God. Why now? Why now did she have to feel so emotional? She liked being cold. She took pride in her aloofness. Feeling hurt and empty had never bothered her. Not until now.

She wanted so badly to be close to Freddy.

She wanted to know what her parents were doing. Why were they out so late? What were they doing? They wouldn't hurt anyone, would they?

At this point, she realized, her parents whole lives revolved around what people thought. Where they were. Who they were considered to be. And now that their new names were MUD, suddenly their world was tumbling down. Their daughter was irrelevant. Family didn't matter.

She heard a knock. Jumped. The knock came again. She stood and looked at the window. She made a face and slipped off of her bed quietly, like a cat. Then she slipped towards the window, and opened it.

Down below, on the grass, Freddy was throwing stones.

She opened the window. "What are you DOING, Jones?" She called down to him.

Freddy was quiet for a second, obviously asking himself the same question. He shrugged, spread his arms wide, and dropped them to his side. "It's real dark out, you know!" He yelled up at her.

"Freddy, go HOME."

"But...you kind of shine, you know. Even in the dark. Like the sun."

Katie opened her mouth, no sound coming out. She blushed. She never blushed. "Freddy-"

But he made his way over to the tree that led all the way up to the roof of her large, large house. Hoisted himself up. Began to climb.

"Freddy, you big idiot! Go HOME, you're going to fall!"

"No I wont!"

"Yes you WILL, and you'll break you neck!"

"Shut up, Katie, you know you want to see me."

"No I don't."

He climbed higher. "Yes you do."

"I don't," she backed away from the window a second. Then quickly went back, watching him.

He was high now. "You do. You want to see me."

"No, Freddy, go away!" He stumbled a bit, lost his footing. Katie shrieked. Her hands flew to her mouth. "Freddy!"

He caught himself. Grabbed a branch. Started climbing again, and looked up at her. Smiled. "WORRIED about me?"

"No! You almost fell, you IDIOT."

"I'm almost theeerre." He was so close now. She could see his face clearly.

"Freddy..." she mumbled. He was at her window now, had to jump to make it to the ledge. He looked at her, his eyes suddenly wide. But he was grinning.

"Wow. If I fall, I'm screwed."

"You wont fall," she said. "Okay? Just...jump, go."

He did.

He didn't fall. He grabbed onto the two sides of the window frame, and she pulled him into her room, her hands tight on his arms, pulling him closer to her.

When his feet were safely on solid ground, warm carpet, Katie wrapped her arms around his waist, her face buried in his shoulder. He put his arms tight around her. He smelled her hair.

"They aren't here," Katie mumbled, quietly. Sounding hurt. Freddy had never heard her sound that way. "They left me in this big house all alone. They don't care about me anymore. Everyone's colors are coming through."

"Katie," Freddy said quietly. "My mom's gonna try to keep me from seeing you."

"My parents don't want me to go anywhere, anymore," she continued. "They spare two seconds of their day. To tell me we're too good for all of you."

"You're too good for me." Freddy pulled away from her a little. Looked at her face. Kind of drunk from her presence. "Mom's gonna try real hard to make sure I don't see you. She understands now. Understands that I...want to." He cleared his throat, looked away. Embarrassed. "You know. See you. All the time, I guess."

Katie had to smile a little.

"I can't believe you climbed that tree," she said, finally.

"I can't believe you screamed like a girl when I almost fell."

"I am a girl."

"You don't scream like one." He looked at her, turned red suddenly.

Katie. In some short, light shorts. So slender. Her skin blushing slightly, from the exposure to the cold air. He couldn't take his eyes off of her legs now.

Katie knew this. Blushed again. Part of her, a very small part, wanted to tell him to look away while she got some pajama bottoms on.

Freddy never remembered a time where a girl in shorts had such a huge effect on him, especially when he'd seen girls in much less so many times before.

She stepped close to him again, put one hand at his side. Felt him shudder a little. She looked hard in his eyes, and he looked back.

"I'm alone, Freddy. No one is home."

He swallowed. A lump in his throat. A burning in his groin.

She leaned up, pressed a hot kiss to his neck. Her hands playing with the bottom of his shirt, inching it up. He was breathing a little hard.

"Katie," Freddy said huskily, his hands on her back, under her shirt, touching her skin, lightly. "Katie, I...can't not be with you. I have to see you."

She looked at him. "I'm right here."

"You have to stay."

"I'll always be close, okay?" she hugged him again, he hugged her back. "God, Jones...listen to yourself."

"You have a weird effect on people," he replied.

"I guess."

He looked her in the eyes again. Overwhelmed. "Katie, I..."

Katie's eyes widened, hopeful. "What? What is it?"

Freddy didn't continue. He just kissed her, hard, loving. Full of need. Need for her. Katie moaned and kissed him back, as his hands left the small of her back, and he trailed his fingers under her shirt, up her stomach. To her breasts.

She pushed him a little, then harder, onto her bed, and climbed on top of him. She straddled him as they kissed more passionately. Freddy groaned, loudly, as she pressed her body closer to his. He leaned up a little, pulled off his shirt while Katie worked with his belt. Pulled if off, and un buttoned his pants.

Freddy sat up, kissed her collarbone, and his hands went to her back. Fumbled with the clip of her bra...

She blushed when she felt it come undone immediately. Obviously Freddy had done this before. Then she slowly slipped off her t-shirt, and dropped both the bra and shirt to the floor. The air suddenly serious as she sat on him. They stopped kissing. Both of them naked on the top, his eyes staring hard at her chest, and then back up at her.

Would they go further?

"Katie," Freddy breathed.

"...Yes?"

"Katie, are we..." He cleared his throat. "Shit, Katie. You sure?"

She looked at him. Then blinked. Her eyes seemed to lose some glow. They weren't hazy anymore. She blinked again and then ducked her head.

"I want to."

Freddy gulped a little.

"But we wont. Okay? Neither of us would...It's just a bad idea."

"Yeah." Freddy rolled over. Was beside her on the bed. Trying very hard not to touch her. Not to touch her at all. She was just so intoxicating that he found it impossible to breath when she was near at all. Found it impossible to breath anything unless it was her.

Katie let out a long sigh.

"This is shit scary," Freddy mumbled.

"Yeah."

Freddy turned to look at her. That perfect profile. She was thinking hard about the situation. Probably wondering if there was an easy way out. Katie and Freddy both guiltily, always looked for easy ways out.

But there wasn't one.

Somehow along the way, they'd started craving whatever it was they had. All the time. Even the...non-physical talks. The banter. Just them.

"Hold my hand or something, Katie."

She took his hand, and didn't say anything.

Freddy was touched.

Not that he'd ever admit it. Yet.

End of part 6

(woaaaahh. The plot thickens.)


End file.
